The Dawson County boys basketball team couldn't find a worse time to be in a slump.

The Tigers have currently lost five of the team's last six games, which is something that hasn't happened often in head coach Thad Burgess' tenure.

However, three of the losses have come against state-ranked teams Buford (two games) and North Hall.

Fortunately for the Tigers, the team's only win in the past week did get them back to the state playoffs. The Tigers pulled off a 42-30 win over White County on Feb. 12 to propel them back into the state tournament.

The team has qualified for the state event in six of the past seven years.

"Making the playoffs again is very exciting," said Burgess. "This is something we don't take for granted. The players showed me ... that they will not end the season without putting it on the line on Wednesday against a very good Woodward team. Our players have had great success and take pride in that."

In the first round of state action, Dawson County will travel to College Park Wednesday to play a very talented Woodward Academy team.

The War Eagles come into the contest with a 24-5 record and a Region 6-AAA championship. Woodward defeated St. Pius, 46-41, on Saturday to clinch the No. 1-seed.

It will be a tough game for the Tigers. Woodward has only lost one home game all season.

Tyler Dominy led the Tigers in scoring with 16 points, while pulling down 12 rebounds in last week's win over White County.

Tigers Camron Chester and Jonathan Sanderson also played good games against the Warriors.

Chester scored eight points with 10 rebounds, while teammate Sanderson added eight points in the win.

Dawson played Buford on Friday at North Hall High School. North Hall was the site for the Region 7-AAA tournament.

The game was the third time this season the Tigers had played Buford.

Dawson wasn't successful on either occasion previously, and also fell on Friday by a score of 56-30.

The score was close at 20-15 at halftime in favor of the Wolves, but Buford used a dominating performance over the last 16 minutes to pull away with the victory.

Dawson County especially had trouble scoring in the third quarter and was outscored 21-5 to give Buford a 41-20 lead going into the final quarter.

Buford put the game away in the fourth quarter after going on a 12-1 run and stretching its lead to 55-28.

Leading the scoring for Dawson County were Gunnar Armstrong, Dominy and Sanderson each with six points. Will Anglin scored five points for the Tigers.

The shooting woes continued on Saturday for the Tigers.

The team shot less than 20 percent for the second consecutive night and lost a 58-42 decision to East Hall.

Dawson County had defeated the Vikings twice during the regular season.

"We shot miserably. It began effecting our defensive intensity and confidence. When we shoot that badly it makes everything we do a struggle," Burgess said.

"Our kids will play hard on Wednesday night. I know what they are made of and I would not swap them for any team in the playoffs," he added.

Wednesday's game is scheduled to tip-off at 7 p.m. at Woodward Academy.